Market down for second week running

26 October 2010

The Gulf projects index falls as the market begins to stabilise after a surge in activity following Ramadan

Contract awards 27 October 2010

Biggest contract: $1.8bn

Awarded to consortium led by US-based Bechtel to build the main terminal at Muscat International airport

$3bn: Value of major contract awards

5: Number of contracts awarded

For further information visit www.meed.com/contracts

The total value of major projects planned or under way in the Gulf on 27 October reached $2.93 trillion, a fall of 0.1 per cent on the previous week’s total, according to the latest Gulf Projects index.

The index shows that the GCC market fell by 0.1 per cent to $2.29 trillion as a result of several large projects in the UAE and Saudi Arabia being put on hold.

Upcoming tender deadlines
 ClientContractSubmission date
Kuwait Kuwait UniversityFaculty of Arts & Education9-Nov
Kuwait Ministry of Electricity & WaterAl-Zour South power plant9-Nov
Saudi ArabiaSaudi AramcoShaybah co-generation plant22-Nov
Saudi ArabiaSWCC and MarafiqYanbu power and water desalination plant11-Dec
UAECentre of Waste Management – Abu DhabiIntegrated waste management project23-Dec
For further information visit www.meed.com/tenders

The UAE witnessed a 0.2 per cent decrease in the value of projects planned or under way to $909bn from the previous week as the country’s real-estate sector continues to suffer from the impact of the financial crisis. In all, eight projects were put on hold in the UAE this week, including six projects in the emirate of Ajman.

Saudi Arabia, the region’s second biggest projects market, saw a 0.3 per cent fall in the value of projects planned or under way due in part to two major project being stopped – a steel plant in Dammam that was cancelled and a wastewater scheme in Riyadh was put on hold.

Project updates this week
 Project NameProject Status
QatarConversion of Prilled Urea To Granulated Urea ProjectStudy
KuwaitAl-Zour IWPPPrequalification
Saudi ArabiaSubsea PipelinesTender
KuwaitCollege Of Science, Sabah al-Salem campusTender
QatarQatar Foundation headquarters Tender
For further information visit www.meed.com/gulfprojectsindex

The project markets in Kuwait, Oman and Qatar all recorded a positive growth on the previous week. Oman achieved the biggest rise, with a 0.6 per cent increase in the value of projects planned or underway from the week before. Bahrain recorded no change from the previous week’s index.

Outside the GCC, Iran and Iraq both recorded a decrease in the value of projects planned or under way, with falls of 0.1 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.

The overall projects index is still positive when compared with the previous year, with the Gulf achieving a 9.0 per cent year-on-year increase.

Iraq maintains its position as the region’s fastest growing market by recording a 121.7 per cent year-on-year increase.

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